Francis Lankin's questions about WheelTrans cuts.

Ontario Hansard - Thursday 28 November 1996.

ORAL QUESTIONS.

TRANSPORTATION FOR THE DISABLED.

Ms Frances Lankin (Beaches-Woodbine): My question is to the
Minister of Transportation. Pearl Miller was here again today,
and I'm very sure that you remember Pearl Miller. She'd be pretty
hard to forget. Maybe, though, you weren't aware that her appeal
has been denied and Pearl Miller has been cut off Wheel-Trans.
Minister, Mrs Miller feels you duped her. A month ago you were
only too eager, in front of all the cameras, to pull out all the
stops to come to her aid, and now she's been cut off Wheel-Trans
-- and she's not the only one.

Your cuts mean that children with special needs lose out,
because Freda Bryman has been cut off and she can't get to their
school where she volunteered twice a week. Your cuts severely
limit the health and independence of Trent Brady, who's
recovering from a stroke and used Wheel-Trans to get to therapy.
Your cuts mean Brenda Morris has had to quit a full-time job and
reduce her hours to half-time because her son, who was born with
cerebral palsy, autism and epilepsy, has been cut off
Wheel-Trans. She has to stay home to look after him.

The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Question, please.

Ms Lankin: Minister, these are your cuts. When are you going
to take responsibility for them and for the people who are being
cut off of Wheel-Trans because of them?

Hon Al Palladini (Minister of Transportation): I have
reiterated in this House all along that I am concerned about the
mobility and accessibility needs of the disabled people in the
province of Ontario, and I do have some concern about how some of
these people might have been handled in the new approach through
re-evaluation. But again I want to emphasize that while the
ministry provides the funding for this support, we don't make
that decision. It's clearly done by the Toronto Transit
Commission and Metro. It is not a Harris government cut. I want
to say it once more: We did not cut one dollar from disabled
transit.

1450

Ms Lankin: Minister, please, please stop with the smoke and
the mirrors. You assessed a cut to the TTC, a percentage based on
conventional transit and a percentage based on special transit.
You've rolled it all up into the $8.17 million and said,
"You can take it anywhere you want," but you've
assessed that whole amount. You have not insisted that the
special transit be maintained.

It's not just Toronto. You keep saying that it's only Toronto,
that it is the only errant municipality. In London your cuts mean
reduced service for everyone in Paratransit. In Ottawa your cuts
mean tightened registration and prioritized booking. In Sault Ste
Marie your cuts mean changes in who's eligible and increased
fares. In Thunder Bay your cuts mean fewer vehicles and reduced
hours of service. In Chatham your cuts mean eligibility changes;
only one half of the riders are still registered. I could go on.

Your government promised in the Common Sense Revolution that
"Aid to seniors and the disabled will not be cut."

The Speaker: Question, please.

Ms Lankin: These are broken promises. Real people like Mrs
Miller are being hurt. When will you live up to your promises and
restore this funding to special transit?

Hon Mr Palladini: The honourable member mentioned Wheel-Trans,
and that is the reason I addressed the Toronto Transit Commission
and Metro, because the honourable member mentioned Wheel-Trans.

However, I have a letter that I wrote to Mr Paul Christie back
in August 1995, clearly looking to work together in a cooperative
way at how we can avoid these situations. I asked the Toronto
Transit Commission to look at an operating reduction in their
budget of $8.17 million on a $708-million budget. I further
reiterated in my letter after the meeting, "I am prepared to
instruct ministry staff to immediately make the necessary changes
to give you the option of meeting the saving target entirely from
the conventional transit and maintain Wheel-Trans funding at the
same level."

PETITIONS.

SERVICES FOR THE DISABLED.

Mr Michael Gravelle (Port Arthur): I have a petition signed by
hundreds of my constituents who are very concerned about Veronica
Manuel and her severely disabled son Dylan. The petition reads as
follows:

"Whereas the Health Services Restructuring Commission has
recommended a significant reduction of chronic care and
psychiatric beds in Thunder Bay, which serves northwestern
Ontario; and

"Whereas there is no commitment to reinvest the $40
million saved back into our community to compensate families and
the people who may have to abandon paying professions for the
uncompensated one of caregiving but rather in the specific case
of Veronica Manuel, because of her overwhelming and demanding
task as caregiver to a severely handicapped son, she has been
forced on to welfare with imposed irrational eligibility
criteria, poverty and hardship; and

"Whereas more and more families may also be forced to
struggle under these conditions to adequately care for their
loved ones, we will not only see a higher rate of unemployment
but also the creation of at least two ill people for every
original one;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly
of Ontario to not only reject this recommendation but to offer
adequate compensation to Veronica Manuel, recognize and support
her and remove the irrational eligibility criteria that hinder
her."